


Midnight Christmas Eve

by fubarfalcon



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Christmas Fluff, F/M, Family Fluff, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:48:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28269399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fubarfalcon/pseuds/fubarfalcon
Summary: Harry takes a quiet moment to reflect on his family's day as he waits for his wife....and Father Christmas
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Harry Potter
Comments: 5
Kudos: 38
Collections: Harmony Advent Collection 2020





	Midnight Christmas Eve

**Author's Note:**

> A big thank you the the Harmony and Co. Facebook group for letting me join the 2020 Advent Collection for my first fanfic! Any and all constructive criticism is appreciated. As I'm sure you all are aware, I do not own Harry Potter or any characters you recognize. Same goes for Rudolph and the Island of Misfit Toys. Finally, while I don't think this qualifies as songfic due to the source not having any lyrics, the title was lifted from Trans Siberian Orchestra's 'Midnight Christmas Eve', one of their instrumentals I've always loved. Merry Christmas!

On a cold, clear night in the English countryside, the moon shone down on freshly fallen snow, bathing the world in an almost ethereal light. Amid the moonlight and snow was a comfortable, welcoming home. A home that exuded warmth and love, safety and contentment. Standing at a large bay window, admiring the wintery scene was a man with unruly Raven hair and deep green eyes.

The man was Harry Potter, and the night was Christmas Eve.

Harry stood bathed in the warmth and light of the crackling fire in the fireplace, the flickering candles on the mantle and colorful lights of the Christmas tree. As an instantly recognizable carol came softly to his ears from the radio on top of the bookshelf in the corner, he slowly raised the glass he had been holding to lips and took a small sip. Harry let the whiskey rest on his tongue just a moment before swallowing and sighing contentedly. All the while, he reflected on the day he had spent with his family.

How could someone accurately describe Christmas Eve spent at the Burrow with the Weasleys? Loud, hectic, cheerful, dramatic, loving, joyful, chaotic. All would fit and fit well. Harry thought he would have to ask his wife for the most apt word. Hermione was always the far more eloquent of the two, after all.

As soon as the Potters arrived with their three kids, Teddy Potter was off looking for Victoire. For the first few years after the war, Teddy had lived with his grandmother Andromeda Tonks. However, Andi soon realized she was no longer up to taking full time care of a toddler by herself. As his godparents, Harry and Hermione had stepped up with out reservation. Just a year after taking over his care, and with Andi’s happily given blessing, they adopted Teddy as their own. And while Teddy knew all about Remus and Tonks and what they had fought and ultimately died for, Hermione and Harry were his Mum and Dad. According to Teddy, a better pair of parents couldn’t be found, though he was quickly reaching that age where he would be hard pressed to admit it.

Then there were the younger two Potter children. Alexandria with her curly black hair and the same deep green eyes as her father. Normally quite bookish like her mother, she was easily excitable at times such as this. Her brother J.T. meanwhile, was a carbon copy of Hermione but possessed his father’s impulsive, ‘act first think second’ demeanor. They also both took after their older brother Teddy and happily followed his lead. Intelligent, caring and about as mindful of their parents as one could expect from kids their age but when Teddy split off from his siblings Lexi and J.T. were not to be left behind. They both took off like a shot at the first sight of their Weasley cousins. Harry and Hermione shared an amused look and a shake of the head before heading inside, hand in hand as always.

The two heroes of the wizarding world reveled in the familiarity and tradition they had come to expect each Christmas Eve. The hugs and handshakes, laughs and backslaps, retelling the same stories and jokes they heard each and every Christmas. The amazing food and superb company, all the small, simple moments that made up the cherished holiday. While the drinks flowed Harry stuck with butterbeer and Hermione with a crisp, clean finishing wine. They still had to get back home and more importantly, like parents around the globe, they had a meeting to keep later that night with Father Christmas.

As the night wound down, the Potters began corralling the kids and gathering all the gifts they had received from Grandpa Arthur, Gramma Molly and all their aunts, uncles and cousins. After a farewell round of hugs, thank you and ‘Happy Christmas’ the five Potters headed for home.

Once they arrived and had put all their new gifts away, Hermione got the kids upstairs to change into their pajamas. Meanwhile, Harry made sure everything in the kitchen was ready for the morning when, after Harry’s famous Christmas morning breakfast, he would begin cooking Christmas dinner. Dan and Emma Granger would be joining them tomorrow, along with Andromeda. The thought of cooking for his closest, dearest family had Harry smiling more than he was already.

As soon as everyone was changed and in the living room it was time for the Potters’ own Christmas Eve tradition. Teddy, Lexi and J.T. were each allowed to open one present from Mum and Dad. A few Christmas eves before, Hermione had made the enormous parental faux pas of giving the kids mittens and scarves as their Christmas Eve gift. That was something Harry would never let his wife live down! This year it was a book for each of them. Teddy and Alexandria were both voracious readers and as J.T. was still young enough to believe his brother and sister could do no wrong, was determined to follow in their footsteps. After that everyone grabbed a mug of hot coca and a couple of Christmas cookies as the family of five settled on the couch together and watched ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’

Once Rudolph managed to save Christmas and pickup his friends from the Island of Misfit Toys, it was time for bed. Hermione tucked in Lexi and J.T. while Harry tucked Teddy. Harry tried to memorize every detail of the moment as this was one of the few times that ‘big boy Teddy’ would let his Dad tuck him anymore.

As Harry stood by the window taking another sip from his glass, he was brought out of his reverie by two separate yet complimentary sounds. First, from off in the distance came the bells of a country church proclaiming that it was now midnight and Christmas Eve had become Christmas itself. The second sound, which would always bring a smile to his face, was his wife’s footsteps as she quietly came down the stairs. Without saying a word, Hermione stepped up behind the man she had known and loved for so long and her arms around him. As Hermione laid her head against Harry’s back, he encircled her arms with his own and tilted his head back until it just rested on hers. And for a moment husband and wife simply soaked up the moment. The tree, the fire, the music, the moonlight and the far-off church bells. Silently they took it all in, both knowing and appreciating how rare such perfect moments could be.

Then, as by some unspoken mutual agreement, they began to move again. Harry softly released Hermione’s arms just as Hermione, in one fluid motion, let go of her husband, slipped in front of Harry and took the glass from his hand.

As he watched his wife take a sip of ‘their’ whiskey, Harry couldn’t help but chuckle. Just about any other time of the year Hermione would choose butterbeer, beer or wine. Over the years however, this night had become an exception. With the children sleeping soundly upstairs and Crookshanks sleeping soundly somewhere under the Christmas tree, the couple would share a glass of whiskey (or three) as they played Father Christmas and put out the gifts for their kids.

As Harry had first learned back when it was the two of them and Teddy, this was Hermione’s show. He was simply following orders. The only thing that changed over the years and especially after Alexandria and J.T. were both born was that Harry had developed a much better sense of how his wife would want to lay out the presents for each of the their three. After arranging each of the three piles of presents, only to star over again and then adjust things several more times after that, the two stood back with an arm around each other and admired their handiwork.

Once they finished the last of ‘their’ whiskey, Hermione and Harry looked to each other. As her brown eyes met his green, they leaned in for a soft, lingering kiss. When they pulled back, she asked Harry the question he already knew was coming, the question she asked the end of every Christmas Eve.

“Well Mr. Claus, are we ready for bed?”

“Yes Mrs. Claus, I do believe we are!”

At that, they headed for the stairs knowing full well that the three excited Potter children would be bursting into their room long before they were ready to get up.

Harry and Hermione couldn’t wait.


End file.
